Friday, October 20, 2017

On Stress, Writing, and Writers

My friends and favorite people in the crime fiction community know I've had a hard run of things these last few months. I won't lie, it was crushing to have so much loss, stress, grief, and general insanity smashed together in such a short time. But the light at the end of the tunnel was Boucher Con. I didn't realize until I was there, that being around all the wonderful people who've made writing less lonely, reading more exciting, and life more tolerable was exactly what I needed. I brought home a bag of books and have been reading them two at a time (something I rarely do), trying to hold on to that fleeting feeling.

I got to ride the high a little longer in Pasedena at The Battery, a cool used book shop with a killer podium, where Scotch Rutherford set up a Switchblade reading. I realized after I arrived that I'd actually never done a reading in Southern California. I've read quite a few times in the Bay Area, and once in New Orleans, but there's something special about reading close to home - and getting a good response.